Natalie Christensen – Escapism

$2,180

SKU: 26150

Artwork Description

Natalie Christensen – Escapism

Dimensions: 18 x 26″ framed / 16 x 24″ unframed
Year: 2020
Medium: archival pigment print on Italian cotton rag, satin UV laminate,
white shadow box frame
Edition: 2/6

ALSO AVAILABLE
8 x 12″ edition 1/8, $1090
32 x 48″ edition 1/4, $4410

LAST NIGHT I DREAMT I KNEW HOW TO SWIM SERIES

The first pool I remember was the one I fell into as a small child. It was at an apartment complex that my young parents lived in. I recall falling in, opening my eyes, and seeing the color of the water and the reflection of sunlight shimmering in my field of vision. My mother pulled me out. I was around four years old. Eventually I became a good enough swimmer and spent the summers of my childhood and adolescence in any pool I could find.

My parents were divorced by the time I was eight years old and I spent every other weekend with my dad. Back then he lived in apartment complexes; some of which had pools. My father would let my brother and I play for hours. And during the winter he would take us to hotels that had indoor pools. These stays helped us avoid the sense of loss.

I came to learn that the presence of a pool was a distraction from how impermanent things actually were. Underneath, there loomed an impending sense that everything could be lost. Stable could quickly become unstable, and suddenly we were in over our heads. Yet the pool was always seductive. There was a comfort in the stillness of its waters, albeit a calm that couldn’t be trusted.

Now, I look at pools as windows into my past, and insights into my present. Beyond their surfaces, the depths of my discoveries are seemingly infinite.

Natalie has shown her work in exhibitions around the world, including London, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles. She was one of five invited photographers for “The National: Best of Contemporary Photography” at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and was recently named one of “Ten Photographers to Watch” at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art. Her photographs are in the permanent collections of museums and institutions as well as numerous private collections. Natalie is represented by Turner Carroll Gallery in Santa Fe, Nordic Art Agency in Malmo, Sweden, Susan Spiritus Gallery in Newport Beach, and Galerie Minimal in Berlin. When Natalie isn’t looking for photos behind forgotten shopping centers you can find her checking her Instagram feed while hiking the mountains around Santa Fe.